Chelsea secured a sixth straight Premier League win to move up to second as the in-form Tammy Abraham and Christian Pulisic struck to beat Crystal Palace 2-0.
Abraham ended Palace’s dogged defensive resistence with a simple finish from Willian’s deft through ball seven minutes into the second half before Pulisic headed home a loose ball 11 minutes from time to seal all three points. Chelsea edge a point clear of Manchester City and to within five of leader Liverpool, which hosts City on Sunday.
A 4-4 draw with Ajax on Tuesday took the tally of goals Chelsea’s prior 18 games this season to 70 at an average of nearly four per game. The Blues free flowing football under Frank Lampard was met with a brickwall of a Palace defence for the first 45 minutes.
Moment of genius
The Palace resistence was finally broken by one moment of genius from Willian as the Chelsea captain for the day flicked the ball perfectly into Abraham’s path to slot home his 11th goal of the season.
Pulisic finally got the goal his performance deserved by following up after Michy Batshuayi’s shot had been blocked to nod past a helpless Guaita.
The results:
EPL: Chelsea 2 (Abraham 52, Pulisic 79) bt Crystal Palace 0.
La Liga: Alaves 3 (Joselu 26, Pina 32, Lucas 75-pen) bt Valladolid 0 .
